Complete 11/13/2019
Post TLJ - Rey is now part of the Resistance and Kylo Ren is the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Will their paths cross anew? Will the Force once again be able to unite these two beings for whom everything seems opposed?
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Base Haven-Planet Arbra:
"He is on Tatooine."
Leia stared at the young woman with astonishment. Lying in bed, the general was still tired-looking. Mirzin had specifically ordered that she not be disturbed, but Rey couldn't have waited any longer to tell her what she had discovered.
Her voice filled with emotion, the Resistance leader asked, "Has the bond opened again? How can you be sure he is there?"
Rey told her how she knew that he was on the desert planet, probably on a hydroponic farm.
So it could not be him, on the videos. Her intuition was good. And Rey saw hope gradually reborn in the tired eyes of the general.
Despite all that her son had done, she was still a mother. She was crumbling under the weight of guilt but Rey could feel the love rooted deep in her heart.
The young woman swallowed hard, thinking back to her own parents selling her to Plutt when she was only five years old. Before the emotion overwhelmed her, she drove out of her mind the image of the great gray ship moving away into Jakku's sky.
"I knew something was wrong. I don't know what happened in the First Order, but your son is no longer among them. Someone's pretending to be him. Surely one of the other Knights of Ren."
Leia looked up at Rey. Now, different scenarios were being considered in her tactician's brain. The hypothesis of a coup led by Hux was no longer so insane. The soldier must indeed have allied himself with the Sith knights to seize power. But her son had managed to escape.
"If Hux wants him dead and his followers have turned against him, he has no choice but to hide somewhere," Rey supposed. "I'm sure they're searching for him to finish what they started."
"Curious choice of planet," Leia smiled sadly.
Rey waited with bated breath as the general resumed in a more solemn tone.
"It could be a trap."
Of course Rey knew it was more than a possibility and the two women continued weighing the pros and cons for several long minutes.
"And during these four months, Hux has hidden the fact of my son's defection, and is pretending that he's still at the head of the First Order by broadcasting these videos?" Leia murmured.
Rey nodded to let Leia know that she really believed in this version of events. She could tell that the princess really wanted to believe it too, but felt that she should think like a leader first.
"What are we going to do?" Rey asked anxiously.
If Leia decided to inform the others, Ben's fate was sealed. Poe was going to propose going to Tatooine with men and heavy artillery to try to capture a weakened and isolated Kylo Ren, and the rest of the Resistance would obviously agree with him.
